HOME OFFICE News
Release (069/2007) issued by The Government News Network on 2 April 2007
The Government
today outlined how it will further support for victims of sexual
violence through better support facilities and improving the
response from the justice system to such crimes.
Today's publication - the Cross Government Action Plan on
Sexual Violence and Abuse - is underlined by an immediate cash
boost of £2million for support services for victims of sexual
abuse. This is an addition to the £1million already announced to
increase the Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs) network.
Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker said:
"The Government has a crucial role in protecting those at
risk of sexual violence and child sexual abuse, looking after the
victims of these terrible and damaging crimes and of course
dealing with those who commit them. This plan co-ordinates
everything we are doing across Government to ensure that victims
get the support they need and the justice they deserve.
"These actions are part of the Government's work to
rebalance the criminal justice system in favour of the law abiding
majority so that victims and the wider community do not have to
live in fear. I am pleased that my colleagues across Government
have worked together to tackle all aspects of sexual violence in a
strategic and forward looking way."
The robust measures set out in the plan will:
* increase access to support and health services for victims of
sexual violence and childhood sexual abuse;
* improve the
criminal justice response to sexual violence and childhood sexual
abuse; and
* prevent sexual violence and childhood sexual
abuse from occurring wherever possible
Sexual violence and childhood sexual abuse cause great and often
lasting damage to the victims of these crimes:
* According to NSPCC research, around 21% of girls and 11% of
boys experience some form of childhood sexual abuse;
* The
British Crime Survey 2005-06 shows that 23% of women and 3% of men
experience sexual assault as an adult.
* the most vulnerable
in society are disproportionately affected, such as children and
people with a disability;
* victims often suffer severe and
long lasting harm, including physical injury, sexually transmitted
diseases, unwanted pregnancy, post-traumatic stress disorder and
even suicide; and
* these crimes impart a significant
financial cost to society.
Dr. Nicole Westmarland, Chair of Rape Crisis (England and Wales), said:
"We are pleased that there is going to be more support for
survivors of rape and other sexual offences and that Government is
taking a more joined up approach to tackling these crimes. Every
day we receive hundreds of calls to our Rape Crisis centres up and
down the country and we are glad that the Action Plan deals with
access to support but also emphases the need for effective
prosecution and prevention."
Fay Maxted, National Co-ordinator of the Survivors Trust, said:
"The Survivors Trust has welcomed the opportunity to work
with central government to develop an Action Plan that will ensure
that the needs of victims and survivors of sexual violence and
abuse are responded to in the most appropriate and timely matter."
Key points we will be taking forward from the action plan include:
* expanding the network of Sexual Assault Referral Centres which
provide medical care, forensic examination and counselling in the
aftermath of a sexual assault;
* through the Victims of
Violence and Abuse Prevention Programme, developing national
service guidelines on responding to the needs of child victims of
sexual abuse, adult survivors of child sexual abuse and adult
victims of recent sexual violence;
* national rollout of
sexual offences training for police officers and all barristers
prosecuting in serious sexual offence cases;
* implementing a
new vetting and barring scheme to make sure all those who work
with children are safe to do so; and
* management of sex
offenders through Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements and
implementing new strategies for treating offenders
The Solicitor General, Mike O'Brien, said:
"This action plan gives us a unified approach to tackling
sexual violence. It includes measures to strengthen the role of
specialist prosecutors and ensure all barristers prosecuting
serious sexual crime in court have specifically designed,
specialist training. We need the whole system to respond to the
needs of victims and deliver convictions of the guilty."
Deputy Minister for Women and Equality Meg Munn said:
"This action plan provides the basis for change: change in
attitudes and an improvement in our response to victims. With new
funding for health and support services we have a real opportunity
to increase the confidence of victims in the criminal justice and
to help them get on with their lives."
Notes to Editors
1. The Action Plan is the work of six Government Departments; the
Home Office, Department of Health, Department for Constitutional
Affairs, Crown Prosecution Service, Department for Education and
Skills and the Department for Communities and Local Government.
2. The Government has allocated a further £2 million funding for
victims in addition to £1 million extra already earmarked for
Sexual Assault Referral Centres. £1.25 million of this will come
from the Victims Fund, paid for by the Victims Surcharge from
offenders. Last year the Government announced a £3 million package
to provide targeted professional support to victims of sexual
violent crime.
3. There are 38 Independent Sexual Violence Advisors (ISVAs) in
England and Wales. These are professionally trained specialists
working alongside victims from the point of crisis throughout the
legal process and beyond. They are based within Sexual Assault
Referral Centres (SARCs), one-stop facilities where victims of
sexual assault receive medical care and counselling whilst
progressing their cases with the police. The numbers of SARCs will
be increasing from 5 centres in 2003 to a proposed 40 by the end
of 2008
4. As part of Domestic Violence Month in March 2007, the Home
Secretary announced a doubling in the numbers of multi-agency risk
assessment conferences across England and Wales, regular forums
where all the key criminal justice agencies work together to
develop plans and exchange information in order to better protect
domestic violence victims and their families.
5. NSPCC published the report Child maltreatment in the United
Kingdom: a study of the prevalence of child childhood sexual abuse
and neglect in 2000. The British Crime Survey Crime in England and
Wales 2005-06 report was published in 2006.